Fundraising push for True Blue New Mexico

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Today, the GOP heavy hitters are fundraising to improve their chances in New Mexico: Dick Cheney is holding a D.C. event for Rep. Steve Pearce (similar to one he already headlined for Rep. Heather Wilson) and Karl Rove will be in Artesia helping raise cash for the state Republican Party.

As regular readers know, this year is a rare situation: four of New Mexico’s five Congressional seats are open, while the fifth is held by Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman. The seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici is a likely pick-up opportunity with Rep. Tom Udall leading the charge, and Martin Heinrich and Bill McCamley have excellent chances in the 1st and 2nd Congressional districts, respectively. In addition, a good crop of candidates is in the field for the probably Democratic-safe 3rd Congressional District.

Some cohorts in the netroots, NewMexico FBIHOP and Democracy for New Mexico, have organized an ActBlue page to help counter the GOP fundraising efforts. Today is the kickoff for True Blue New Mexico. You can help by giving some cash to some great progressive candidates. Early money is more important than cash that comes late in the campaign, and every dollar you give now will help blunt the thousands of dollars that Rove and Cheney hope to raise today.

New Mexico State Society and Martin Heinrich

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I attended the New Mexico State Society holiday party Wednesday night with a colleague, and introduced him to New Mexico politics. I pointed out Rep. Steve Pearce, Rep. Tom Udall and, of course, Sen. Pete Domenici (Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Heather Wilson had already left the shindig). We dined on some New Mexican fare (taquitos and flautas) and sipped some New Mexican wine. All in all, not a bad evening.

Following the event, we ran into Martin Heinrich at a local bar. The meeting was very informal, but Heinrich seemed, to me, to have a good grasp of the issues that might decide the upcoming election. He knew that the Iraq War is still a major concern for voters in his district, and he espoused some wonderfully progressive ideas about the role of bloggers and new media. Chatting with a few Internet types, he was able to talk the lingo and knew how important a campaign’s online capacity is to success. He also said New Mexico is uniquely positioned to play a role in creating an energy-independent United States. I found him to be a very knowledgeable candidate on a variety of topics, and he’s a fan of Silver City: he said he made his decision to run for Congress while on vacation there.

Most important was Heinrich’s stance on the issue of FISA (and general democracy in America) – it’s very family-oriented, and spoken from the heart. You’ll see more about it in the coming days, but his desire to set things right is tangible. It bodes well for a strong progressive showing in New Mexico’s First Congressional District.